Vampire-Lycan War
The Vampire-Lycan War (occasionally referred to as the Eternal War) is the name of the war that currently rages between Vampires and Lycans. Origin After the end of the Vampire-Werewolf War and the capture of William Corvinus, the Lycan species evolved, beginning with Lucian. The Lycans were kept as slaves by the Vampires, favoured over Werewolves due to being more intelligent and docile. Under the Vampires, Lycans suffered captivity and poor treatment, and dreamed of freeing themselves. The war officially began in the early 15th century, when Lucian rebelled against the Vampire Elder Viktor, after being forced to watch the brutal execution of his pregnant lover, Viktor's own daughter, Sonja. Lucian vowed undying revenge on Viktor for the loss of Sonja and their unborn child. Lucian lead his brethren – whom Sonja had previously helped to escape – and a pack of surviving Werewolves to storm Castle Corvinus and destroyed almost the entire Budapest Coven, freeing the remaining slaves. Viktor swore revenge against Lucian and the Lycans for their defiance. Viktor had the Vampire histories altered after this to omit the enslavement of the Lycans and any mention of his daughter, to make it seem as though the Lycans were to blame for starting the war and that their violence was unjust, whereas in reality, the Lycans were originally only retaliating against the brutality of their former masters. Cheating Death In the 15th century, the Death Dealers lead an assault on Castle Corvinus, which Lucian had taken as his own fortress and burned it to the ground. Almost all the Death Dealers involved in the battle were killed, but the Vampires seemed to win a great victory when the sole surviving Death Dealer, Kraven, succeeded in killing Lucian, cutting off and presenting Lucian's branded skin as proof. In reality, however, Lucian still lived, as Kraven had struck a bargain with him – Lucian would fake his death so that Kraven could gain Viktor's favor, and in exchange, they would help each other to stop the war and kill the Elders, allowing Kraven to take control. The ruse worked, with Kraven growing in power over the centuries, while Lucian went into hiding, presumably orchestrating the war from behind the scenes and biding his time. The Bloodshed Continues In spite of Lucian's supposed death, the war continued to rage right up to the 21st century – six centuries after it first began. The Lycans were rarely able to cooperate and form sophisticated attacks, giving the Vampires the advantage and by the early 21st century, Lycan numbers had greatly declined. Unbeknownst to both species, the first Immortal, Alexander Corvinus and his private human army, known as the Cleaners, worked to ensure the war did not become public knowledge. Although things looked bleak for the Lycans, they continued to adapt: the oldest Lycans were able to learn how to transform of their own will, rather than only under the full moon, making them deadlier than ever. With the help of the former Vampire historian Andreas Tanis, they were also able to develop ultra-violet ammunition that burned Vampires as if they had been exposed to sunlight, giving them a slight edge. The Search for Michael Lucian sought to bring the war to an end by turning himself into the first Hybrid: "half Vampire, half Lycan and stronger than both". To achieve this, he required the blood of a Vampire Elder and the blood of a descendant of the third son of Alexander Corvinus, who carried a dormant version of the Corvinus Strain. It was discovered that the mortal Michael Corvin was a descendent of the third son of Corvinus and the Lycans made it their primary goal to capture him. Their plans were disrupted by the Death Dealer Selene, despite the efforts of Kraven to keep things quiet in time for the arrival of the current reigning Elder, Amelia, who was returning to Budapest to awaken the next Elder in the Chain, Marcus Corvinus. Lucian succeeded in biting Michael, turning him into a Lycan and obtaining a blood sample, which tested positive for the Corvinus Strain; however, matters were complicated when Selene, suspecting Kraven of treachery after seeing Lucian alive, awoke Viktor two hundred years ahead of schedule to seek his help. The Lycans were able to ambush Amelia and the Vampire Council, killing them and draining Amelia's blood, though Lucian was betrayed and mortally wounded by Kraven before he could inject it. Viktor, after learning that Lucian was alive, lead a group of Death Dealers to the Lycan lair, where a fierce battle broke out. Selene, having developed feelings for Michael, tried to help him escape, only for him to be shot with silver nitrate by a jealous Kraven. Fortunately, at a dying Lucian's urging, Selene bit Michael, turning him into a Hybrid and saving his life. Selene later killed Viktor himself, after she learned that Viktor had lied about the origins of the war and had murdered her family – he having previously pinned the blame on Lycans to secure Selene's loyalty. The remaining Lycans allowed Selene and Michael to leave untouched, with the pair becoming fugitives. They retrieved Sonja's pendant from Lucian in the process, not realising it was in truth one of the keys to William's prison. Marcus's Awakening Kraven and the Vampires loyal to him attempted to kill Marcus before he could be awakened, allowing Kraven to take control; however, Marcus had already awakened and been inadvertently turned into a Hybrid after ingesting the blood of a Lycan, Singe. Marcus killed Kraven's men and from his blood memories, learned of his treachery and that Selene knew of the location of his twin brother William's prison (her father having designed the prison and brought Selene there as a child). Marcus torched the Vampire mansion, destroying what remained of the Old World Coven, before setting out after Selene and Michael to retrieve the pendant and learn the location of his brother's prison. Marcus managed to obtain both keys and the location, freeing William. He sought to turn him into a Hybrid and destroy both Vampires and Lycans races, creating a new species, but was thwarted by Selene – who became the first Vampire-Corvinus Strain Hybrid after Marcus' dying father Alexander offered her his blood – and Michael, who killed Marcus's brother. The Purges For around a decade, the war was 'put on hold', so to speak, as with Alexander and the Cleaners gone, knowledge of Immortals eventually leaked out to humankind, who responded to the perceived threat by enacting the Purges – essentially a mass genocide against both Lycans and Vampires, forcing them into hiding. During the first Purge, Selene and Michael were captured and were kept in cryogenic stasis for twelve years. Rise and Fall of Antigen The war was flipped in favour of the Lycans after they managed to gain control of Antigen, a company supposedly dedicated to finding a cure for the 'Infection', though in reality the Lycans sought to find ways of increasing their power. Antigen obtained Michael and Selene, as well as Eve, the daughter of Michael and Selene whom the latter had been unknowingly pregnant with at the time of her capture. Using Antigen as the company running tests for Lycans and Vampires, the Lycans were able to fool the humans into thinking they were extinct, allowing the Lycans to rebuild their numbers. Twelve years after the purges, Eve learns of Antigen's plans to dissect her in order to turn all Lycans into Hybrids. The Lycan leader and head of Antigen, Doctor Jacob Lane and his son Quint had already used Eve's DNA to turn themselves into Hybrids, albeit with Quint being more powerful due to having more injections. Eve escapes and frees Selene who joins with Thomas's Coven, one of the last Vampire covens in existence. In order to get Eve, the Lycans attack in a force of two dozen, showing the extent of their survival. Though several Lycans are killed, the coven is decimated, Eve is captured and David, son of the leader Thomas and Vampire Elder Amelia, is killed. Selene resurrects David as a Vampire-Corvinus Strain Hybrid like herself before setting out to rescue Eve and stop the Lycan plot. With the help of Detective Sebastian, Selene is able to determine that Antigen is actually run by the Lycans and is where Eve has been taken. Joined by Detective Sebastian and taking advantage of her immunity to sunlight, Selene assaults Antigen as the Lycans prepare to dissect Eve. With Detective Sebastian's help, Selene kills most of the Lycans at Antigen and ruptures Michael's containment tank before being forced to fight Quint as Eve fights Jacob. Quint and Jacob are killed by Selene and Eve respectively while David arrives to dispatch the remaining Lycans. After the fight, Selene, David and Eve find that Michael has escaped and know he will be hunted by the Lycans. Marius Following the fall of Antigen, the Lycans continued to hunt Selene but appeared to have no central leader for awhile. Eventually, Marius rose as a new Lycan leader, uniting hundreds of Lycans under his leadership and destroying several Vampire Covens, turning the tide of the war drastically in the Lycans favor. Marius also captured and killed Michael Corvin, using his blood to make himself a Lycan-Corvinus Strain Hybrid with the plan to locate Eve and use her blood to make himself even stronger. Despite the numbers of Lycans Marius had under his command, he lacked the strength needed to destroy the Eastern Coven without Eve's blood. Due to the severity of the threat posed by Marius, the Vampire Council agreed to grant Selene clemency if she would train their new Death Dealers to fight Marius. However, Selene is betrayed and framed by Semira in revenge and to cement her own power. After Selene escapes to the Nordic Coven, Semira sends Death Dealer Alexia after her. Alexia is secretly the lover of Marius and leads the Lycans to the Nordic Coven where the Lycans attack with casualties on both sides. After learning that Selene does not know where Eve is and her apparent death, the Lycans abandon the fight with the Nordic Vampires. With the help of Alexia, the Lycans are able to breach the defenses of the Eastern Coven and protect themselves from bullets with riot shields. As a tactic, the Lycans also blow holes in the walls of the Eastern Coven to use sunlight as a weapon. The Lycans nearly win before Selene, her powers greatly enhanced by the Nordic Coven's Sacred ritual, returns with the Nordic Vampires as backup. Selene eventually kills Marius and after David proves the death of their leader by presenting his head to the Lycans, the surviving Lycans retreat. Following Marius' death, the Lycans are left once more without a central leader, turning the tide back in favor of the Vampires. Selene feels that this defeat will potentially lead to a time of peace for the Vampires to rebuild their two surviving Covens. The Vampires, without any sort of central leadership since the deaths of Amelia, Viktor and Marcus, elect Selene, David and the Nordic Vampire Lena the new Vampire Elders, restoring a central leadership to the Vampire race. fr:Guerre entre les Vampires et les Lycans Category:Mythology